Competition Assessment Toolkit

‌Increased competition can improve a country’s economic performance, open business opportunities to its citizens and reduce the cost of goods and services throughout the economy. But numerous laws and regulations restrict competition in the marketplace. Many go further than necessary to achieve their policy objectives.

The OECD's Competition Assessment Toolkit helps governments to eliminate barriers to competition by providing a method for identifying unnecessary restraints on market activities and developing alternative, less restrictive measures that still achieve government policy objectives.

COUNTRY CASE STUDIES

‌‌Romania will be using the Toolkit to conduct an assessment of regulatory constraints on competition in three sectors

‌Greece used the Toolkit to conduct an assessment of competition-distorting rules and provisions in four sectors

‌‌Mexico is using the Toolkit to help identify regulations and policies that unnecessarily restrict competition

Text of the Toolkit

The Competition Assessment Toolkit was first published in 2007 and then updated in 2010. The main difference between Versions 1.0 and 2.0 is that Version 2.0 provides additional examples of the benefits of competition and an introduction to the Competition Checklist. Version 2.0 is also supplemented by a companion volume which provides detailed technical guidance on key issues to consider when performing competition assessment.

The Toolkit provides a general methodology for identifying unnecessary regulatory restraints and developing alternative, less restrictive policies that still achieve government objectives.

One of the main elements of the Toolkit is a Competition Checklist that asks a series of simple questions to screen for laws and regulations that have the potential to unnecessarily restrain competition. This screen focuses limited government resources on the areas where competition assessment is most needed.

The materials can be used by governments in three main ways:

By government bodies engaged in development and review of policies, such as the competition authority in its evaluation of competitive impacts of regulations or by ministries that develop laws.

In an overall evaluation of existing laws and regulation (in the economy as a whole or in specific sectors).

In the evaluation of draft new laws and regulations (for example, through regulatory impact assessment programs at the centre of government).

The Toolkit is designed for use in a decentralised fashion across government at both national and sub-national levels. The reason for designing the materials with this flexibility is that restrictions on competition can be implemented at many different levels of government and competition assessment can be helpful at all these levels.

The Toolkit materials designed for use by officials with no specialised economics or competition policy training. Institutionally, potential users could include ministries, legislatures, offices of government leaders, state governments and outside evaluators of policy. The materials were developed with the active participation of many OECD delegations.

Comments on the Toolkit are welcome in order to prepare for future revisions. They can be sent to: Comp.Toolkit@oecd.org.